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Pickering may discuss Lankan developments with India: AFP

US Under Secretary of State Thomas Pickering will arrive in New Delhi Wednesday to discuss issues in the South Asian region, including the war raging in Sri Lanka, officials said on Tuesday.

Pickering, the first senior US official to visit India since President Bill Clinton's visit in March, will meet Foreign Secretary Lalit Mansingh and Defence Minister George Fernandes.

Indian officials said Pickering would discuss bilateral, regional and international issues during his two-day talks.

The war in Sri Lanka and India's offer to evacuate 30,000 embattled Lankan troops from the Jaffna peninsula are to figure prominently in the talks, analysts said.

Diplomats say Washington backs an ongoing Norwegian peace initiative and that New Delhi is in close touch with the Clinton administration on its role to try and end the civil war in Sri Lanka.

Pickering is due to visit Islamabad after his talks in India.

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